Sleepy's Night

“Oh my gosh,” Silly Sleeper said as he rushed into his house and closed the door behind him to keep the winter cold where it belonged, away from him. Tossing his snow hat aside, Silly Sleeper leaned his head back and bit his scarf, tugging at it frantically to get it off, only managing to create a knot that frustrated him even more. Silly Sleeper, while struggling with his scarf, started slipping his boots off and fell over when his hind legs crossed throwing his balance elsewhere.

Sleeper lay on his side with a groan then yawned. “I gotta clean up… can’t sleep yet,” he mumbled and lifted his head. Silly Sleeper’s friend, Tri Roller was coming over later in the afternoon for their social time and it was one of the most looked forward to times of Silly Sleeper’s week and this week it was at his house.

Sleeper was determined to have it cleaned up, this time. He had to make a good impression every time, after all. It is the only polite thing to do before company comes over, Silly Sleeper reminded himself. With a determination unseen by him in the past two days, Sleeper rolled to his belly and used his forehooves to take his boots off, then used the same hooves and his mouth to untie his scarf.

Whooping with pride, Sleeper stood up and tossed his scarf on the floor by his hat and walked into his house again, yelping when his hind hooves slipped on the polished wooden floor Tri had helped him install and maintain over the summer. Snorting into laughter, Sleeper backed up, slipped the boots off his rear hooves, and then carefully walked over the water droplets that formed from the snow he’d shaken off his body a moment earlier.

Silly Sleeper yawned, yet again, and swiftly moved into his living room and began picking empty soda cans from the floor, couch, bookshelf, and coffee table for recycling. Then he did the same with candy wrappers, a fast food container, some shirts he sure were still clean enough to wear at least once more, and his breakfast bowl that still had oatmeal in it with a spoon stuck in the slop.

Sleeper shoved everything but the bowl under the couch, nodded at the cleanliness of his social room, then rushed into the kitchen to at least get the dishes in the sink to soak in warm water. Silly Sleeper gasped and rushed to the ice box and took out his tea pot, he didn’t know why he put it there but there it was.

“Gotta get hot water! C’mon, Sleeper, don’t mess this up,” Sleeper said putting the tea pot on the stove, he ran across the kitchen to the back door and was assaulted by the frigid air as he grabbed a log in his foreleg and rushed back into his home. Shaking and stomping his legs, the snow stayed on the entrance rugs so he didn’t worry when he rushed to the stove.

A few minutes of fighting to light the wooden stove was maddening, Sleeper couldn’t figure out why his hooves were shaking so much since he wasn’t cold. He just had a lot to do and so much less time to do it all, now. The fire caught and he giggled, clapping his hooves as the oven warmed with an orange glow. Sleeper closed the oven door, rushed to his room and shoved everything on the floor under his bed and into the closet. He only had a dresser with two drawers, but he made sure the socks and other garments were inside the drawers before he closed them.

Rushing back into the hall, Sleeper looked down the hall and thought about everything he had to clean, grinning happily when he realized he was done and could rest. He practically pranced to the couch and rolled on to it; resting his head on his forelegs he fell asleep as quickly as he could.

A nudge to Sleeper’s ribs got him to grumble. Another nudge and Sleeper waved a foreleg at the offender, his hind leg moving slightly in the same motion as a chuckle passed over Sleeper’s dreaming mind.

“Silly Head,” a familiar and comforting voice whispered into Silly Sleeper’s ear said bringing a smile to the sleeping pony’s lips. “Humph, fine then, I’ll just have to go since you’re going to sleep all day.”

Silly Sleeper’s eyes opened and he shoved himself into a sitting position, looking around the room in a daze before his eyes met his friend’s. Tri Roller’s eyes danced with mirth while Silly Sleeper’s were droopy, like they always were. “Don’t go, I got chocolate hot,” Sleeper said with a small yawn. Sleeper shook his head getting a laugh from Tri when Sleeper’s ears flopped up and down. “I mean hot chocolate.”

Tri climbed onto the couch beside his friend. “I don’t smell any… or see any. Silly, are you playing a prank on me?” Sleeper shook his head again, more awake now. “Asking me to come over again this week, offering me my favorite thing to drink with you… and not having any to really offer me?”

Tri was a bit taller than Silly Sleeper and Silly Sleeper was feeling like a mouse looking up a lion with a voracious hunger. “I… I really do have… in the kitchen,” Silly Sleeper said in a shrinking voice.

Tri laughed and leaned over, nuzzling Sleeper under his chin. “I’m just messin’ around. How long have you been asleep? You didn’t burn the water away again, did you? If you need it, I can run back to my house down the block and get my tea pot.”

“N-no! You don’t have to leave, do you?” Sleeper said earnestly.

“Well, that depends on the state of your tea pot. If it’s been cooking dry the water is gonna taste all gross and that’ll go right into the chocolate flavoring…” Tri pouted and if Sleeper had been standing his knees would have buckled. “You don’t wanna serve me bad hot chocolate, do you?”

Sleeper shook his head while he watched Tri’s lips moving.

“Good deal,” Tri said and slipped from the couch to the floor. “C’mon, Silly, let’s go make some hot chocolate!” Tri pranced around the corner and Silly Sleeper fell off the couch watching the other stallion until he turned the corner. “You okay, Silly?” Tri asked looking around the corner with concern.

“Yeah, Tri… Silly Sleeper is on the job of making the water for the hot,” Sleeper got up and grinned awkwardly, “hot water. Um, I just need a second to stretch my legs from post nap issues, you go on ahead and I’ll be right there.”

Tri nodded and leaned back, stopping when he saw Silly Sleeper start stretching, bending, and twisting in ways a fellow earth pony shouldn’t have been able to under normal circumstances. Tri backed into the kitchen and shook his head, clearing it from his impure thoughts. He’s a really good friend, that’s all. Don’t make it weird by thinking like that,Tri Roller. Just get the hot water and take it from there. Just a social time, that’s all this is. Just you and Silly… call him Silly, he likes that; he blushes a little every time you call him by his first name. Do it for him.

After psyching himself up, Tri checked the water in the teapot and nodded. “Good, it’s only boiled a little down. So, that means,” Tri looked over his shoulder, “I’ll start the hot chocolate, you take your time and I’ll get the cups and chocolate out. You can add the sugar this time, ‘kay?”

“Okay, thanks for letting me know,” Silly Sleeper called back.

“And the cream topping,” Tri said calmly. Silly Sleeper barely heard and was unsure, but he still fell over and righted himself quickly, wondering if he heard right.

No, don’t read into it. He’s just a good friend, Silly Sleeper thought and shook his head to clear his mind before doing some dips and squats to limber his legs again.